ESTERO, Fla. - On the same day two of their teammates were honored as part of senior day, the No. 2 pair of Karissa Rhoades and Katherine Puisis won two matches and broke the program's single season wins record as the FGCU beach volleyball team (13-9, 7-3 ASUN) defeated North Florida (3-2) and Jacksonville (5-0) to conclude its regular season at Estero Community Park.

With the victories, the Eagles also achieved the program's best-ever finish in ASUN play, topping a 6-4 finish in 2017, and they clinched the No. 2 seed in next weekend's ASUN tournament. FGCU and North Florida each finished 7-3, but the Green and Blue got the No. 2 seed by winning 11 of 21 sets head-to-head.

"I was extremely pleased, especially with the way we started things off this morning," FGCU head coach Matt Botsford said. "The UNF matchup was really, really tight, like we saw on Friday. To come out and get two of those three wins from teams that lost in yesterday's match was huge.

"We talked a lot about our ability to adapt and take the information from the team we're playing and put that in action in terms of strategy, and we did a wonderful job of that. And to get a sweep against Jacksonville and get our seniors two wins heading out on senior day, it was a wonderful day."

With that No. 2 seed, FGCU will get another matchup against North Florida on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the winner's bracket semifinals of the ASUN championship at Cooper Beach in DeLand, Fla. The tournament is double-elimination except for the championship, which is winner-take-all.

For Rhoades (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale Senior HS) and Puisis (Mason, Ohio/William Mason HS), they pushed their season win total to 16, topping the previous record total of 15 they tied last year and originally set by Elisa Anne Aldrich and Madi Wilcox in 2016. They are now a team-best 16-6 this year, including an 8-2 mark in conference play and a 12-4 slate from the No. 2 spot.

"I think we played a lot better than yesterday," Puisis said. "We came in today knowing we needed the win to get to 16. We were really motivated to do that for ourselves because we wanted to break our record. We had a game plan, and we executed."

Most Wins In Program History - Top 10
Puisis/Rhoades (2018) - 16
Aldrich/Wilcox (2016) - 15
Puisis/Rhoades (2017) - 15
Burnam/Whetstone (2018) - 14
Borgiotti/Glickert (2018) - 13
Allen/Carroll (2017) - 12
Mesner/Wilcox (2015) - 12
Allen/Carroll (2018) - 11
Pudwill/Wilcox (2017) - 11
Jordan/Werkmeister (2017) - 11

The senior duo of Mackenzie Allen and Ashley Glickert, who were honored prior to the team's match against Jacksonville, each closed their careers at home with wins. Allen (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast HS) teamed with Amanda Carroll at No. 1 to defeat Jacksonville 21-15, 17-21, 15-7 in the finale, while Glickert (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) teamed with Giovanna Borgiotti at No. 3 and pulled out a hard-fought 22-20, 20-22, 15-13 win. In fact, they have now won five consecutive matches.

"(Today) is exactly what we needed as a team, to see how excited we could get and good we can play when we're all fired up," Glickert said. "It's exactly what we needed going into the tournament. I think we have a really good chance (to win it) this year."

Allen and Carroll (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia HS) are now 11-11 overall this year and finished 7-3 in ASUN play, while Borgiotti (Vienna, Va./George C. Marshall HS) and Glickert are 13-9 and finished a team-best 9-1 in ASUN play.

Another storyline was the continued strong season from a pair of freshmen at the No. 4 spot - Snowy Burnam and Kayla Whetstone, who avenged a loss to North Florida on Friday with a 21-19, 21-16 win on Saturday.

In their second match, Jacksonville won a 21-19 opening set, but Burnam (Palm City, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) and Whetstone (Arlington, Texas/Arlington Lamar HS) won the next two 21-10 and 15-11 to improve to 14-8 overall and finish 7-3 in ASUN play. Their overall win total continues to add on to a program record from a No. 4 pair.

After Kellie Pernula (Plant City, Fla./Plant City HS) made her season-debut at No. 5 on Friday, Cortney VanLiew (Seymour, Ind./Columbus East HS) played in her second match of the season in the defeat of Jacksonville and picked up her first win via a 21-17, 21-16 result while teaming with Kaitlan Krivdo (Hope Mills, N.C./Grays Creek HS).

FGCU 3, North Florida 2
1. Miller/Hoff (UNF) d. Carroll/Allen (FGCU) 21-16, 21-18
2. Rhoades/Puisis (FGCU) d. Griffey/Howard (UNF) 24-22, 21-18
3. Borgiotti/Glickert (FGCU) d. Workman/Pase (UNF) 21-17, 21-19
4. Whetstone/Burnam (FGCU) d. McCarty/DeBolt (UNF) 21-19, 21-16
5. Waggoner/Justice (UNF) d. Krivdo/Ryan (FGCU) 21-9, 21-15

FGCU 5, Jacksonville 0
1. Allen/Carroll d. Dees/Krawczyk 21-15, 17-21, 15-7
2. Rhoades/Puisis d. Mattingly/Petersen 21-13, 21-14
3. Borgiotti/Glickert d. Swan/Befus 22-20, 20-22, 15-13
4. Whetstone/Burnam d. Siegrist/Babowicz 19-21, 21-10, 15-11
5. VanLiew/Krivdo d. Reiser/Salapek 21-17, 21-16

FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU volleyball program, follow on Twitter at @FGCU_BeachVB, on Facebook at /FGCUVolleyball and on Instagram at @FGCU_VB.

COACH BOTSFORD
Head coach Matt Botsford, who is also the head coach of the FGCU indoor volleyball program, is in his fifth season at the helm of the FGCU beach volleyball program in 2018. In his tenure, the team has compiled a 44-56 record, and he's improved the team's win total each season. In fact, he led the program to 11 wins in 2016 and 15 in 2017 - both of which were new records for most wins in a season. The beach volleyball program is in just its seventh year at FGCU and has an overall record of 55-71. Prior to his time in Southwest Florida, Botsford held successful stints as an assistant at Notre Dame, Miami, IUPUI, Indianapolis and most recently Colorado State. A former professional volleyball player, he is a 1998 graduate of Tri-State University (now Trine), where he earned a degree in Social Studies Education. He earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.